The Newt and Demon

The smelter buildings were also chaotic. Not only because of the people rushing around, avoiding splashing metal and shouting orders. But the heat itself was enough to make any normal person wither as they approached. Theo shielded his face as he waved his hands, desperate to get Nira’s attention. Between the cooling gel they wore on their skin, and some adaptation, thanks to the cores they used.

Nira waved him off, gesturing across the street before getting back to work.

Gridgens stuck around, waiting to see what the woman would say about the ore. It took a while for her to finish up, though. That led to the overly excited miner making predictions about the quality of the ore and what it would mean for the town. But Theo took Thim’s assessment seriously. It was unlikely to shake things up, even if it was cool.

“What can I help you with?” Nira said, sauntering over. She wiped a wet cloth over her face, removing layers of soot.

“Got something interesting for you to smelt,” Theo said, producing several nuggets from his inventory. He handed them over.

“Rare metals? I like rare metals,” Nira said, inspecting the nuggets. She held it up to the sun, bit it, and shrugged. “Seems slightly better than Drogramathi Iron. Not as versatile as Azrugium.”

“Those are apparently expensive,” Theo said. “According to the dwarves.”

“Yeah, dwarves and their precious metals… I’ll cook these up for you,” Nira said, holding her hands out. “Assuming you have more than three nuggets.”

Theo gave her all the nuggets he had, and was unsurprised at her glib response to something a dwarf claimed was so precious. She worked with rare metals every day, stuff that would make the dwarves blush. But this was the only place these rare metals appeared… Unless there was a Drogramathi mine somewhere else. That got him thinking.

“Has the supply of Drogramathi Iron dried up?” Theo asked.

“Not that we’ve noticed,” Gridgen said.

“That’s curious… But I won’t complain. Keep an eye on it,” Theo said. “Thanks, Nira. You’re the best smelter I know.”

“Damn right I am,” Nira said, turning away and approaching her workshops. She yelled at some workers, flailing her arms. In the short time she had met with the pair, something had gone wrong.

Theo shook his head, walking off with Gridgen. “Make sure they don’t dig deep,” he said. “If I catch you guys digging any deeper than that last level, I’ll seal it up.”

“The miners are scared enough as it is. I don’t think you have to worry.”

Theo bid farewell to Gridgen at the mines. The workers were buzzing with the new information. The alchemist turned away from the excitement, heading off to complete his little adventure. In the past, he had used the Tunneling Potion to etch a passageway through the mountains, leading south to the coastline. He walked that path, coming to the end only to spot a massive drop. Reaching out with his Earth Sorcerer’s Core, he got to work on a path.

Carving a path in the mountain was theraputic. Theo fell into a rhythm of moving and removing material as he created a basic ramp alongside the mountain. He reformed it to hold the path better, making sure it was wide enough not only to hold people, but carts and trains if he needed. The original idea for this passage was to have a launching point for a train heading south, over the water and toward the lizard islands. That never worked, as the bridge had failed almost immediately.

Within a few hours, Theo was walking along the coastline to the south, angling himself northeast as he followed the curve of the land. He could see the harbor in the distance, but at least he was at the level of the water. The waves lapped against the rock, washing over his boots as he raised the pathway enough to account for the tides. He wrapped the path along the coast, leaving it where it was as he approached the beach area. The guards atop the waterborne towers waved after a bit of shock.

Theo waved back. “Yeah, I bet they’re wondering what the hell I’m doing out here… Just testing some bridges, guys. No need to freak out.”

With the coastal pathway done, Theo walked back to the massive staircase he had created and climbed it. Without his increased Vigor, the climb would have been daunting enough to make him give up. Once at the top, Theo pulled material from the mountain itself and sent it sailing into the sea below. The stone crumbled, tumbling end-over-end as it crashed into the sea. Waves radiated outward, white-crested and high enough to cause concern. At least the harbor was shielded by sturdy walls.

With enough rocks in the ocean below, he took the stairs… again. Would Throk be upset if Theo requested an elevator? Probably not, but it was a waste of his time. The trip wasn’t too bad, and it allowed the alchemist to mess around with causeway designs. He quickly learned the only way to make it work would be to pile material in a mound that joined at the top. Even in the shallow waters near the coast, the amount of rock needed to make the causeway was staggering.

But the waves crashed around the crude causeway, rushing up the scramble of rocks and failing to rush over the path. While this small test was interesting, Theo knew it wasn’t a seal of approval for the structure. Ziz’s version of the bridge didn’t fail near the shore. The structure he made failed out at sea, where white-capped waves slammed into the pillars supporting the bridge. Then there was the problem of depth. Again.

“Boats are easier,” Theo said, moving stone around to connect the causeway to his hewn path. “But at least the fishermen can head out and cast a line…”

From what Theo could observe about the open ocean outside the bay, the bridge idea was a bust. Boats were way easier, and with the amount of effort he needed to put into this project, coming up with a magic-resistant airship would be quicker. But he wasn’t undertaking these projects as a way to better the alliance anymore. That would be a lovely side-effect, but what he needed was to keep his willpower sharp.

Going through a list of buildings in his mind, Theo headed back to town. He could catch up on some things that had gone by the wayside during his mad alchemy spree. The first one that bubbled to the top of his thoughts were the smelters. Nira was doing a great job with them, so much so the alchemist had let them fall behind the other buildings. Getting them to Level 20 from 15 would be easy enough. If he had enough spare Monster Cores, he could even get them to 25. But one upgrade should have been good enough for the industrious woman.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“I haven’t smelted your fancy nuggets,” Nira said, giving Theo a flat look as he approached. She was taking a break outside the smelter, chatting with Alise and looking as dour as ever.

“Just upgrading the buildings,” Theo said with a nod. “Let me know which one you wanna pick.”

“He’s bored,” Alise said, not bothering to keep her voice low. “Looking for things to do, you know.”

“Quite bored,” Theo said, approaching the smelter. “In a good way, though.”

Theo added Monster Cores to the smelter, watching as the level ticked up. It didn’t take long for the first upgrade option to appear. He saw the old Lightweight Crucible upgrade, the new one, and something strange.

[MISSING]

ENTRY MISSING

Theo had to think for a moment to figure out what was going on. The old upgrade was Fan’glir’s Flames. And Fan’glir was kinda dead. As dead as a fake god could be, anyway. He wondered if there were other upgrade selections in town that had suffered. He would need to check, searching for a solution if there was one at all. Instead of worrying about it now, he checked the new upgrade option.

[Cooled Workspace]

Any worker with a Smelter’s Core (or adjacent, aligned, etc core) will experience half as much heat from the smelter.

“Come on,” Theo said, reading the description for Nira to hear. “How could you not want that?”

“I get that, or lighter crucibles… I don’t mind the heat so much.”

“There’s not minding the heat, and then standing in the middle of an active volcano.” Theo folded his arms, shaking his head at her. She was tougher than most.

“That’s fine. I’ll take that one.”

Theo selected the upgrade, narrowing his eyes at the lava-girl as he added more cores to the building. The next milestone came, once again providing him with the missing entry, Light Crucibles, and something new. “This one is good, though,” the alchemist said, reading the latest entry for her consideration.

[Expanded Crucibles]

The generated crucibles within your smelter may hold more and retain heat better.

“That one sounds exciting,” Nira said, deadpan.

“Oh, yeah. Just let it all out,” Theo said, selecting the upgrade for her. “Unfortunately, I’ve only got a stock of Level 20 to 25 cores on me right now. I’ll have to grab some more high-level cores from the market.”

“The Cooled Workspace upgrade will be great for my workers,” Nira said. “Perhaps we won’t have faintings as often.”

Theo inspected the building before moving on. He smiled at the name Nira had given it. Long ago, he learned who the Midnight Damsel was.

[Smeltery]

[Midnight Damsel Smeltery]

Owners: Theo Spencer

Operator: Nira Weir

Faction: [Southlands Alliance]

Level: 25 (15%)

Rent Due: SUSPENDED

Expansions:

[Preservation of Heat]

[Pattern Alloy]

[Double Smelter]

[Cooled Workspace]

[Expanded Crucibles]

Applying the upgrades to the other smelters, Theo headed off for his next stop. Throk owned both the Artificer’s Workshop and the Blacksmith’s Workshop, and would have been mad if upgrades were applied. The School, Mudball Fundamental, was already at Level 30. While his Tero’gal Manor was at Level 20 and could have been brought to Level 25, he just didn’t have the desire to do so.

Theo wandered to the harbor, watching as a ship pulled in to moor at the docks. The waters here were calm and clear, not appearing as filthy as he remembered Earth harbors looking. There was a constant flow of water from the river, flushing anything foul left behind by the ships into the sea. He made his way to the marker, looking over the interesting wares people brought for sale. It wasn’t a seed core market, but it was fun.

After haggling with a merchant, Theo led a karatan away from a stall. The creature was of a variety he hadn’t seen before, and seemed well-tempered. Best of all, it was white with black spots. It looked too much like an Earth cow not to purchase, even with too many legs and the insect-like features.

Theo approached the paddock’s edge, watching the other karatan roam the open fields. Miana spotted him from afar, shaking her head and striding across the open fields of green. “What in the hells do you have there?”

“A big cutie, that’s what.”

“What are you going to do with a karatan?” Miana asked. She might have been trying to hide it, but she was smiling.

“I didn’t think past the idea of owning a spotted karatan. You want it?” Theo asked.

“Surely it cost you a few gold…”

Theo nodded. Five of them, in fact. He didn’t buy the creature intending to start a farm of his own. A merchant had gone through the trouble of loading a living animal onto a boat, sailing half-way around the world, and presenting it in a stall. Therefore, Miana should have it. He held the lead out, and the beast chittered.

“Thanks, I guess,” Miana said, opening the gate to the paddock. “She’s well-trained, isn’t she?”

The creature stomped off into the field, nibbling at grass as it went. Theo watched with pride. “I’m good at finding excellent quality karatan.”

“Are you really? Did you know it was a girl?”

“Nope. It was the spots that drew me.”

Miana laughed, her smile about as bright as the sun above. Her road to recover was long, but Theo was happy to see she was in a good place. Both her and the animals would come along for the ride through the void. He could imagine these karatan grazing the fields of Tero’gal, mingling with the creatures from Earth. What more could a cow-bug ask for?

“I’m afraid I lost a pozwa a few days ago,” Miana said with a sigh. She jabbed her thumb back to the farmhouse. On the other side, Theo could see a simple gravestone. “Realities of ranching, I’m afraid.”

“Doesn’t help that no one knows how to care for them, huh?” Theo asked. “You have a breeding pair though, don’t you?”

“More than a pair. The population will stay stable for a while. Not forever, but long enough.”

Pozwa had always been interesting little critters. They were demon goats. That’s what they looked like, anyway. Feathered, horned, and cloven-hooved, they appeared to be some chimeric hybrid made by a mad scientist. And they could trace their original breeding back to Gardreth the Fallen Kingdom. Now that was a place Theo had heard little about in his time here. No matter how many layers he pulled back from the curtain of the world, he was doubtful he’d learn everything about this place’s history.

“How is the cheese business?” Theo asked.

“Everyone loves cheese, so business is good,” Miana said. She sighed, leaning against the paddock fence.

“I might need to buy more cheese,” Theo said. “Not as much as before, but… enough.”

“A little melted karatan cheese… some zee flatbread…” Miana trailed off, patting her belly. “Should’ve had more of that at the wedding.”

“More of that and less liquor,” Theo said, nodding. “Or a hangover cure.”

“How many people do you think live in the world?” Theo asked.

Miana blinked a few times, her eyes leaving the alchemist and tracing a line somewhere in the distance. “I really couldn’t say…”

The population of this world wasn’t vast. He was certain the Southlands Alliance was large enough to contain them all, assuming they had the accommodations. A plan formed in his mind. Something that might have been stupid, but fun.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to visit the market… I just had the dumbest idea ever.”